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Illinois

We foster a network of small business owners in Illinois who work with us to educate their peers and convey their perspectives to lawmakers and the media, ensuring small business voices continue to be heard. We partner with other business groups, organizations and experts to conduct listening tours and presentations on how small businesses are impacted by healthcare reform, access to credit, retirement and other key issues. We are also working to increase access to capital and promote responsible lending for Chicagoland's entrepreneurs through our SimpleGrowth.biz lending platform.

Illinois Small Business Owner Highlight

Ramona Thomas, a trained mathematician with a Ph.D. in education, gave up an 18-year career and position as vice president of a venture philanthropy firm to strike out on her own and open what is now Chicago’s premiere artisan chocolate boutique—My Chocolate Soul.

Illinois Events

Women now own nearly 10 million small businesses in America that contribute significantly to our economic vitality, and four in 10 businesses are owned by women of color. For women, entrepreneurship is a path to wealth and prosperity.

Roundtable |
Chicago, IL

Illinois Policy

Small Business Majority writes in opposition against HB 5139, Illinois' Regulatory Sandbox Act. The legislation would permit a range of financial institutions to test unlicensed financial products on consumers, including entrepreneurs. It allows financial products that would normally be subject to licensing requirements and regulations to operate freely. The bill language lacks strong disclosure requirements or provisions promoting transparency, and this lack of clarity opens the door to predatory lending.

Small Business Majority writes in support of Illinois bill SB 2388 SFA1 which would establish a maximum enrollment period for short-term health insurance of 90 days per year. It would also apply existing consumer health insurance protections to these short-term plans and require increased transparency in marketing such plans.

Illinois Research

The economy is improving, but Illinois small business owners and their employees are facing another financial hurdle: retirement security. The U.S. currently suffers from a retirement savings gap of more than $6 trillion, and more than 38 million households do not have any retirement savings at all. Illinois small business owners and their workers are no exception.

Scientific opinion poll finds small business owners are hiring, but those doing so are having a hard time finding candidates with the right background; they support programs such as apprentice and internships to identify and increase the number of qualified workers.

Small Business Majority's scientific opinion polling shows small business owners often feel disadvantaged by large corporations and the electoral system overall. They believe our current campaign finance system puts large corporations at a competitive advantage and support significant reforms to level the playing field between small employers and large corporations.